Class Info
· Professor Nicosia’s husband coming in next week
· Midterm quickly approaching
o Monday the 19th
o In Class essay
o Cumulative
§ Gilgamesh, Hero’s journey, Tragedy, Genesis, the Iliad
o Cite incidents, no quotes necessarily
o No multiple choice
o No questions from “left field”
o Comparing texts on test
o We will review
o Professor won’t be here Wednesday
Poll
· Achilles = Hero today – 69%
o Virtually invincible?
o Kill people?
§ Impulse and rage issues
o Has interactions with the Gods



The Iliad
Think about:
1) The role of women
2) The two heroes: Hector and Achilles and their qualities
3) How does Homer force you to sympathize?

-Achilles is considered a “massive” hero in his time
-What makes him such a hero?

§ Best warrior, strategist
§ Has arsenal of weapons
§ Status
-Achilles’ mother is Thetis, a sea Goddess
-“2nd tier God”
-His father is Poseidon
-His mother lends a noble aspect to him.
-Has “Achilles heel”
-Dunked into River Styx
-Either burned or become invincible when dunked

-The Iliad starts en media res
-“in the middle of things”
-The story doesn’t give the beginning of the war, only the last year and the last weeks in particular
-Paris had to judge most beautiful Goddess
-In this situation, Paris is screwed regardless of whom he chooses
-Got the Gods angry, became a target of them
-Gets sympathy
-Human relationships between Gods and people
-Conspiracies to overthrow other Gods
-Humans are used as pawns
-Paris stole away Helen of Troy, as she was the most beautiful woman on Earth
-”face that could launch a thousand ships”
à literal
-Agamemnon- Helen’s brother-in-law
-Wants to rescue Helen
-Also wanted to conquer “unconquerable city” of Troy

Kleos- glory

Is Jimmy okay?
It is then determined that Jimmy is not okay. Jimmy leaves the classroom.

Kleos- glory, fame, and ongoing legacy
-To be a hero you must search for Kleos to be remembered (needed to be eternally heroic.
Menelaus and Agamemnon = bros
Menelaus is married to Helen
Paris is the Trojan prince, he steals Helen
-Some versions portray Helen as willing, others have her develop and become lovers
-Paris- young prince, Hector’s brother
-Menelaus wants his wife back, so Agamemnon fights Troy with the largest army ever assembled.
-Odysseus is in the army, as is Achilles (he is a demigod)
-Attack Troy; said to be “indomitable”
-Achilles only assists Agamemnon for Kleos, and to support his own hubris.

Timê- timê is similar to kleos, however timê is respect while kleos is fame
-Can have timê without kleos, can have kleos without timê
-Achilles only in war for everlasting fame
-Agamemnon wants kleos for glory of the battle
-Hector is a powerful figure

First Stanza
· Multiple translations
o Word choice in certain translations
· Version one is in our textbook
o Learn about setting, background, context
§ Predominant conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles
§ Many Greeks are dying
· Other people die in search of these men’s kleos
§ Clash of emotions, statuses of men
§ Achilles is godly hero, Agamemnon is worldly hero
· Men don’t just die à burying of the bodies is not done, this breaks burial rituals
o Great chain of being extends from God to earth and vice versa
· Bodies left to rot and be picked on by dogs and birds
o Greeks believe in baths, oiling, rituals, and burning bodies of dead

Ø Zeus’ will à Zeus supports or at least allows these events to happen
o Conspiracy in background
o As a reader must question:
§ Gods have very conflicted relationships
“Explain relationships between humans and Gods, and the Gods themselves. Compare texts”

Ø Gilgamesh = Polytheistic, Bible = monotheistic
Ø Iliad- Gods are more powerful and work together
o Create alliances and make deals
o Hierarchical relationships in Greek mythology
o Zeus is the “head honcho,” and there is more order/ordered chaos because of this hierarchy
Ø Why would Zeus allow these events to transpire?
Ø Gods not as divine as in the Hebrew Bible
o Fall victim to human traits
Ø Gods are not completely powerful because they do not control the Fates
o Achilles fated to die young; he can postpone his death, but it is inevitable
o Given choice: live forever and not achieve kleos, or fight in Trojan war and die young

v First stanza gives understanding of constituent relationships
o Godly interference
Version 2
-A. Rage… towards its end.
Version 3
-B. Sing, goddess… accomplished.
v In book- Rage followed by “sing”
o Rage = negative, sing = positive
v Sing means to express in Greek
o Invocation to the muse
o Muse is who sings/tells story
o Tellers would “oh sing oh muse, inspire me” before telling stories
o Teller make invocation, Gods intervene and inspire, teller expire into the audience
v Instead of “muse” this version uses “goddess”
o Juxtaposition of words
o Juxtaposition is when ideas/words that don’t sound or belong together, but really do belong together in this case
v Murder + Doom à is war murder or self defense?
o Premeditated planning = murder
o Agamemnon planning to get Helen, does this make it murder?
v Murder by today’s standards but in these times it is not because they are searching for Kleos
v Need to get Greek perspective
o Not murder; it is for honor and timê
v Rage and anger?
o Rage is uncontrollable
§ Anger “to the nth degree”
v Version B is softer than version A
o “Delicate feasting” rather than carrion – rotten flesh for beasts
o “Delicate” giving of the bodies
v Zeus’ will is “accomplished” rather than “moving towards an end”
o In A battle is Zeus’ will, while in B it is the killing
v Many versions of these stories
o Textual analysis is ideal to understand meanings behind the text
v Gods in Greek version can change their minds
o Offerings gifts à Gods can be persuaded
o Even Gods are set to standard of the Fates
§ Are the Fates the most powerful then?

· In Book I à 2 great heroes searching for kleos and timê
· Conquered towns and picked “prizes”
· Agamemnon has priests daughter
o Doesn’t give woman back to crisis and crisis kills many
· Achilles chastises Agamemnon
o Agamemnon steals Achilles’ prize/”booty”
· Women were property and richer women went to people of higher standing
-Bresius taken by Agamemnon
o Take away Achilles’ prize
o Hurt pride, Achilles sulks and goes to his mom
o Achilles refuses to fight war
§ Calls Agamemnon an “idiot” and treats him as an inferior